Test, this is only a test Dept: Posting at the Liquorature

[Capn Jimbo]

Si o no? Ya, nein? Yes, no?


The Liquorature used to be a pretty open site, as we try to be. Unless postings are downright mean, ad hominem or crude, they are welcomed. Personally, I love a good, spirited debate with a qualified, intelligent and respectful individual (think of our JaRiMi debates over at the Count's).

Brilliant.

And the Liquorature used to be that way. Lance and I respectfully exchanged viewpoints, some of which were quite different. Good on him. But it all changed after our Reviewer's Review of the Liquorature, which was really not all that bad.

After that, former postings were deleted and new ones rejected. And trust me, I took extra special care to be kind and gentle, and speak simply of the issues. Here's a current post I just now submitted:

Moi, in response to a poor review of Bacardi Black:

The famous Luis Ayala (rum consultant and author of "The Rum Experience") is truly a brilliant and experienced commentator. Of note here is his comment (paraphrased) that:

"..the dilemma faced by many distillers is that a rum designed for cocktails will not show or score well at the competitions. They are thus forced to provide a rum that will score well, but not perform as well as intended in drinks, or to submit a great mixing rum that will suffer in reviews or competitions".

This is one of the more coherent observations I've seen, and certainly relevent here. Perhaps rums designed for mixing need to be scored with that in mind - of course that requires a good knowledge and experience with mixology, which is an art in itself. "

Simple, competent, informative and quite gentle and excruciatingly careful and respectful. Will it survive? Survey sez...

[Capn Jimbo]

Can it be? A Capn Jimbo post evades Lance's delete key?!


Sure can. Personally, I'd have given him no more than a day to delete what has to be one of the kindest, gentlest posts I've ever written. Of course, an asute reader will "get" the implied (and contructive) criticism, but you have to be astute, not just a tooting ass.

So emboldened - and a bit shocked - the test continued as I added a very slightly more edgy addition. Having established Luis Ayala's observation that good mixing rums may not get good reviews, especially when judged by sipping standards (the norm). Carrying forward from Luis' excellent point I posed the dilemma for reviewers...

My Follow Up: "There are really two notions at odds here. The more modern, as expressed above by Luis Ayala, is that there are two types of rums: one designed for mixing, and one designed for sipping. According to him, a good mixing rum that has break through flavors that work well in a drink, may be perceived as too harsh or apparent for sipping, but is brilliant for mixing.

The other, older school is that established by the two originators of the Tiki style, Trader Vic Bergeron, and Donn Beach of Don the Beachcomber, and complex and wonderful rum drinks like the Mai Tai and Zombie.

Both were absolute fanatics about quality of ingredients, ice, mixing techniques and of course, rum. For example in his world famous Mai Tai, Vic used a 17 year old Jamaican style rum. Both used what we'd call top shelf rums, often several of them, in their mixed drinks. They believed that there was no such thing as a "mixing rum" - only young, harsh simple rums and old, aged, tasty and complex rums.

They believed that better rums were better, regardless of whether they appeared neat or in a fabulous mixed drinks. The dilemma for reviewers is this - do we review a rum as a "mixer", ala Bacardi and cut them some slack, or do we just review all rums on the same footing as Vic and Donn (and top bartenders) would do?

If I may, my view: the more we understand and promote the difference purity and quality can make, the better off we all are. "

I'm sure you'll agree this is a brilliant post, posing a real dilemma for reviewers, and asking - just what should we do? No hand slapping, no insults - this time I simply ended with my view, and agreement with the Donn Beach/Vic Bergeron school regarding purity, freshness and quality of spirits and mixing components.


So WTF happened?

How did this entirely competent observation and question sit with Mr. Delete? Would he note the relatedness of the two posts, the natural development of the dilemma, the rational question posted, and a brief statement of my vote?

No fuckin way. Like a swelling boil, Mr. Delete jumped to, donned a pair of latex examination gloves, sterilized a large sewing needle over a gas stove flame, and lanced the the comment, wiping away every remnant, every syllable, every punctuation with a good, absorbant paper towel.

Then dumped into his loo, a quick pull of the chain, and whooosh! Gone. But now, not forgotten...


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Special Note: Look, there's nothing like a good, respectful discussion and alternative points of view. Enjoyable and educational for all. Alternative comments are both encouraged and welcomed here. Let's get it on!

Hiding behind a delete key is really for the cajone and ego challenged, a way to maintain the image of unchallengable authority, and retaining absolute control of content.